Part 4
"So
why are you up here, Daddy?"
"Just
checking on you." Dirk sipped his drink. They were sitting in the hotel bar
drinking together.
"You
didn't come all the way up here just to check on me daddy."
"Whatever
makes you say that?"
"Alex
said it was a 'long story' so there's something behind it."
"Well…"
Dirk sighed. "It was really a combination of things. Hilde wanted to go on
vacation, Alex missed you and Sean-"
"Mostly
Sean."
"Don't
be smart dear."
"Yes
daddy." She replied cheekily.
"I
should spank you."
"You
haven't spanked me in years."
"You're
about due for another one…Anyway, there were a number of reasons for me to come
here."
"Did
you have to bring Hilde though?"
"Yes."
Danny
sulked, playing with her straw.
"You
should really try to get along with her, you know."
"I
don't like her."
"Why
on earth not? She's a very nice woman."
"You're
married to her. You're supposed to think that."
He
shrugged. "I suppose. Who were your new friends?"
"Dee
and Randy…Everyone calls Randy Ryo though, cause it's his Japanese name."
"And
you met them how?"
"Well…"
She shifted in her chair. "I was coming back home one day and I kind of got
into trouble. Bikky helped me out though, so I ended up at Randy's place, and
Dee was there of course, and I really liked them, and they knew Jamie too
and…well…it's all a very long story."
"And
what kind of trouble was this?"
"I
almost got robbed." He glared at her. She shrugged. "It was just momentary
carelessness. I was almost home and I was tired."
"…I
see your luck with men is still holding out."
"Josh
'n Brett are straight. Bikky too, though he's far too young and Carol's pretty
much got him for herself."
"Brett?"
"Josh's
older brother."
"Is
he an assassin too?"
"Yeah.
They're pretty much freelancers, they have a few buddies they work with
sometimes."
"And
family?"
She shrugged. "As far as I
know they're their own family."
"Hmmm.
I'll have my people look them up."
"I
figured you would."
"Your
being cheeky again dear."
"When
aren't I?"
"That's
a distressingly good point."
"Be
nice daddy."
"I
am being nice." He finished off the glass and waved the bartender over to
refill it. "Where are we going for dinner again?"
"An
Italian place."
"I
see…"
"I
figured it was our best bet for getting everyone to agree to go."
"Will
this Brett guy be there?"
"I
don't know. I can call him, if you want?"
"No
that's all right."
"How's
everything at home?"
"Same
as ever. The FBI's been harrying us a bit more than usual though."
"Probably
that Diana girls fault. She showed up here today."
"Really?
Why was she here?"
"I
don't know. She seemed pretty surprised to see me. She knew you were here
though." Danny frowned at him. "Even before I knew. If Sean hadn't told Josh
she would've been the one telling me."
"Alex
was hoping to surprise you."
"Poor
'lexie."
"Indeed…"
He looked at the clock on the far wall. "Hmm…Did you need to freshen up before
dinner?"
She
turned and looked herself. "I probably should." She stood and kissed his cheek.
"I'm gonna run back to my place and change. You know the address?"
He
held up the paper she'd written the directions on. "I'll be there at seven."
She
nodded. "Goodbye then."
He
smiled after her as she ran out the door then took his cell phone out of his
pocket. He hit redial, then waited for the connection to go through.
"…Franz?…Yes, it's me. Look, I need you to do something big down there. I have
an FBI agent I need out of this city and killing her isn't an option… Do what
you need to do. It's a female agent, currently in New York here with me. Her
name's Diana. She apparently followed me up here and is bothering Danny…
Actually, she managed to find a straight guy somehow. He seemed a bit shocked
at her behavior, Hilde was unfortunately around. I didn't really get to talk to
him… I haven't gotten any new news yet but I haven't really had a chance to
sniff around. Have you found anything?… She doesn't know about it herself but I
have Alex up here to be around in case she needs any help. Keep an ear out for
any news down there. Something about this seems odd to me… You'd think they'd
learn, wouldn't you? Oh well." He smiled grimly. "If they do decide to go
through with it they'll be another example not to even think about harming my
daughter."
* * *
"Sean!"
Sean
blinked and turned. "Tasha?"
The
brunette model kissed his cheeks. "Where have you been? You were missing all
day."
He
smiled. "Danny's family came up and her father wanted to talk to me."
"Eh?"
Tasha blinked. "Her family?" She made a face. "I guess this means she'll be
taking more time off work."
"I
guess…"
"She's
never going to be big if she keeps skipping out on the job."
"Actually,
I'm taking care of that now. She'll work a few hours a day but things are
pretty quiet right now."
"You're
so industrious." Tasha grinned at him.
"Not
really…" He smiled. "I get the time off too, you know."
She
laughed. "Being sneaky, hmm? And just why do you want time off?"
"I
like her family."
"So
who all came up?"
"You've
met them?"
"Not
yet."
"Well,
her father Dirk-"
"Dirk?"
He
shrugged. "He's German." As if that explained it.
"Ohhhh…"
"Anyway,
Dirk and Hilde, Danny's step mother, came up yesterday. I met with her father
this morning, he wanted to know all about what had been gong on up here. Then
today Alex came up and-"
"Who's
Alex?"
"Her
brother."
"Oooh!
She has a brother? How old is he? Does he look like her?"
"He's
23. He doesn't look that much like her, they have different mothers. He's all
German."
"Mmm."
Tasha pouted. "That stinks. Spanish people have that…ooh…look about them."
"He
doesn't look very German though. Not with that dark hair of his."
"So,
when're they coming down here?"
"Hopefully
never."
Tasha
looked shocked. "Why, Sean, what a thing to say!"
"I
didn't mean it like that, Tash. It's just…Danny and Hilde don't get along very
well."
"Oh…I
see."
"Actually,
you really don't want to." He sighed. "Hilde's so sweet I just can't understand
why Danny hates her so much."
"She's
her stepmother, right?"
"Yeah,
but she's been married to Dirk since Danny was a year old."
"She
doesn't remember her real mother?"
"She
died less than a month after she was born, so I don't see how she could."
"Hmm…mysterious…
When did Dirk remarry?"
Sean
thought awhile. "About a year later, I'm not sure exactly how long. They don't
talk about it very often. Dirk really loved his first wife."
"But
not his second?"
"He
does love Hilde, but…" Sean shrugged. "I get the feeling he loved his first
wife more."
"Is
he nice to Danny?"
Sean
wrinkled his nose. "She's even more spoiled then I am."
"I
didn't know that was possible!"
"Hey!"
She
laughed. "You're so easy to tease. Does she care about her father?"
"They
adore each other. Of course…"
"He
hates Jamie?"
"How'd
you know that?"
"You're
surrounded by possessive, jealous people, Sean. Everyone seems to hate their
loved ones loved ones."
"I
guess…"
"So,
tell me more about Alex."
"Alex?
What about him?"
"Is
he gay?"
"You
get right to the point, don't you?"
"Why
waste time? Is he?"
"Yeah…"
She
pouted. "No fair…does he date girls at all?"
"I
wouldn't know that."
"But
you would know that he dates guys."
"…"
She
grinned impishly. "And just how do you know that, Sean?"
He
grinned back. "Because he's how I met Danny."
"And
Laura."
His
face darkened. "Yeah…"
"Why
on earth did you move up here if you were dating him?"
"We
broke up, kind of."
"Kind
of?"
"We weren't really serious
anymore."
"Anymore?"
"…"
"What
happened?"
Sean
grabbed his cell phone out of his drawer. "…"
"You
can tell me! Come on, I'm your best friend, aren't I?"
"Are
you challenging Danny then?"
"I
know better then that, thank you. Anyway, tell! Tell!"
He
shrugged. "It was nothing, really."
"You
don't break up with a guy over nothing. Especially not someone as stubborn as
you. What, did you say something he didn't like?"
"No."
"Did
you do something he didn't like?"
"…Kind
of…"
"You
didn't have an affair, did you?"
"Of
course not."
"Did
he?"
"Not
that I know of."
"Then
why?"
"Ask Danny." He grabbed
his wallet and papers off the desk, heading for the door.
"Sean!…"
She grabbed his hand. "When did you break up with him?"
"When
I moved up here, of course."
"When
did you break up with him seriously…"
"Why?"
"Because…If
I know when you broke up with him I'll know why you did, won't I?"
He
yanked his hand free. "Maybe, maybe not."
"I
don't even really need to ask, now do I?"
He
glared at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"How
long ago did you meet JJ, Sean? Didn't you know him for awhile before you all
moved up here?"
"I
met him after he moved in with Danny, of course. So yeah, I knew him for awhile
before I moved here."
She
smirked. "Alex doesn't like JJ much either, does he?"
Sean
blinked, she'd obviously thrown him off balance a bit. "Well, no, now that you
mention it…"
"Let me guess… you broke up seriously with
Alex a few weeks after you met JJ, didn't you?"
"A
month and a half, actually." Sean bit his tongue. She laughed and pointed. "I
knew it!"
"What?"
"Why
he broke up with you!"
"And
why is that?"
"He
broke up with you because-"
"HEY!"
Brett burst into the room. "Is Josh here?"
Sean
jumped, eyes wide. "Brett? You scared me!"
"I
knocked…didn't I?" Brett frowned.
Sean
sweatdropped. "Josh isn't here. He's with Alex-"
"You
should've had them all come down here!" Tasha smirked evilly at Sean. "It
would've been fun!"
"Alex
just got here. He went to move into his hotel room. Josh and Hilde went to help
him."
"Damn.
I need some help on a job." Brett eyed Sean speculatively. "Can you aim? Not
that Josh can, but…"
"I
can't shoot period." Sean checked his beeper. "I have to run, we're all going
out to dinner." He waved to Tasha who pouted.
"Leaving
already?" She grinned. "Dressing up for Alex, or maybe…"
"You're
even worse than Danny, you know." Brett moved so Sean could leave. "I'll see
you two later."
"Bye!"
Brett waved cheerfully. He turned to Tasha. "Hello…"
She
made a face at him. "I don't suppose you know anything about Danny's family?"
"Her
family?" He blinked. "Hey, she would have a family, wouldn't she…Man, never
thought about that. Wonder what they're like."
Tasha
sighed. "Men…"
"What?
Did I say something?"
* * *
"Jamie!"
Danny burst through the door, dropping her purse on the table. "You here?"
"Yeah?"
He turned from the TV. "I thought you were out with Dirk?"
"Need
to change. Did you go shopping?"
"Yeah.
Lots of alcohol and snacks. Some real food too."
"Good."
She kicked her shoes off, running into her room. She left the door open so they
didn't have to shout. "Has Sean called?"
"No,
was he supposed to?"
"No.
Just wondering. He went back to move things around so I can spend time with
Daddy and Alex."
JJ
frowned. Alex…
"Did
anyone call?"
"You
had one message. Sasha called, she wanted to see if you were free tomorrow."
"Answering
machine?"
"Yeah."
"I'll
call her later. Did she leave her number?"
"No
but Sean probably has it."
"Sean
has everyone's number."
"Seems
like it."
"You
ready to go?"
He
looked down at himself. "I think I look fine."
She
peered around the edge of her door and looked him over. "…You'll do."
"What's
that mean?"
Her head disappeared. "You
look OK."
"But
not good?"
"You
look all right."
"But
not good."
"Your
colors are a bit off."
He
looked in a mirror. "How so?"
"Nevermind."
She emerged from her room, brush in hand. She'd changed into her blue Chinese
evening dress. "You'll be OK."
"But
I don't look good."
"You
know how hard I am to please." She disappeared into the bathroom. "Hey, where'd
my hairspray go?"
"Did
you run out?"
"It
was right here this morning." She rushed back out. "Where did it go…"
"Did
you look in your room?"
"I
was just there, remember?"
"You weren't looking for
it then though."
She
made a face at him but went to her room to check. A few minutes later she
stalked back across the room, holding the hairspray bottle in her hands. "Say
nothing…"
He
simply grinned. She shut the door just a bit harder then was absolutely
necessary."
He
turned back to the mirror. "…I bet Alex'll look 'good'." He scowled then walked
towards his bedroom. "All right, what's clean…"
"Are
you changing?"
"Yeah…"
"I
told you, don't worry about it. You'll be OK."
"I've
got time."
"If
you say so…We can't be late though, remember."
"I
said, I have time."
"Ok,
Ok." She walked out, tossing the brush to him. "Fix your hair."
"What's
wrong with it."
"Nothing."
She smiled sarcastically. "It looks all right."
He
made a face at her. "Very funny."
She
shrugged and headed into the kitchen. "Hurry up. You have barely a half-hour."
"I
know what time it is!"
"Then
why're you wasting it arguing with me?"
He
bit back his reply and shut his door. She shook her head and searched the
fridge and cupboards. "…It'll do, I guess. I'll go myself tomorrow."
She
turned to watch JJ's door. "I wonder what's gotten him so upset?"
* * *
Alex
sighed, staring into the mirror. His mother and Josh were in the main room,
unpacking and chatting. He didn't think they'd even paused once. It was nice that
Hilde actually liked him, but really… Quiet was at least occasionally nice.
Now
they were out there talking about family relationships and personality. Josh
had a seemingly endless stream of stories about him and his brother and Hilde
kept prying him about his parents. Not that the guy would say much anything
about them. Alex made a note to get someone to look them up. The Raven name
wasn't familiar to him but he knew nothing about how things stood here in New
York. Which was really his problem… well, one of them. If he knew the people
and groups up here he probably wouldn't even need to be here. Criminals were so
predictable. As long as you paid attention it was really easy to figure out
who'd done, or would do, a specific crime. Motives and methods were all so
obvious…
Oh
well, at least things were new up here. Everything in Miami and LA was so
predictable…Now that they had left… Sean and Danny…
He
shook his head, adjusting his shirt collar. He'd dressed up all nice, made sure
he looked as good as he possibly could which, he knew from experience, was very
good indeed and still nothing. He hadn't exactly expected Danny to say
anything, she had a taste for good-looking things but he was her brother after
all. Not a full brother but she pretty much considered him one… And Sean…
He
glared, fit to kill. Sean had barely said anything, really. Sure he'd been able
to talk to him and Danny for a few minutes but as soon as he'd gotten the
chance Sean had fled, claiming work. The rest of the time…
He
reached involuntarily towards his gun. The rest of the time he'd had that
little bastard of a cop hanging on him. JJ…No, his eyes narrowed, Sean had been
calling him Jamie. Only Danny called that idiot, he had to agree with his
stepfather on that if not much else, Jamie. And Danny hadn't even noticed, so
he had to have switched awhile ago. But he hadn't said anything about going out
with Adams…And either he or Danny would have.
He
sat on the edge of the tub, inspecting his gun absently. His mind was busy
turning over just what Sean and his sister had and hadn't said. Nothing about
Laura, which was to be expected. They'd really liked that frozen bitch. He
mimed shooting someone. He'd never understood that. Why would Sean, the nicest
and warmest person Alex had ever met, fall for the Ice Queen? He hadn't been
able to do anything to stop it though, since he'd been out of favor with Sean
at the time.
He
made a face. Out of favor…Pushed out. By a little upstart cop! Why, why, WHY
did Sean care about that loser? He wasn't that cute, he was a horrible drunk,
he was hideously possessive and no one else, other than Danny, really liked
him. Even Hilde and Laura hadn't cared much for him.
He
sighed, thumbing the safety on and off absently. Why the hell did Sean care
about that Jamie brat? He'd said, even then, that he didn't but…
WHY?!
Sean didn't settle for second, not in anything. That brat had been so caught up
in that Dee fellow, who was admittedly pretty damn hot, that it'd been obvious
that everyone and everything else, even Danny and most definitely Sean himself,
were a distant second. Very distant. Unimportantly distant. So why…
JJ
hadn't flirted too particularly with him, he'd seemed to have a bit of a crush
but had been so caught up in his obsession to really do anything about it. He'd
never gone out with Sean, they had nothing in common. So why…
He
aimed at his reflection in the mirror. He was going to drive himself insane
with this. He'd just have to do something about it, that's all. Take 'Jamie'
out of the picture entirely. Sean wouldn't accept second best and neither would
he. He wouldn't accept anything but Sean, all of him. He wouldn't share even a
bit with Adams. Danny, sure. Adams…He squeezed the trigger, nearly shooting. No
way in hell. Sean was his! Had been his, before that rookie had shown up to try
and destroy their lives.
Why
had Sean taken to the little bastard? He hadn't been mad at Alex, nothing had
changed. But suddenly he'd been a little less enthusiastic about spending time
alone with him, a bit more about hanging around with Danny and JJ. He'd even
taken the ass under his wing, sort of. The boy wouldn't have made it the week
without getting himself shot if Sean hadn't cared. Danny didn't, not that
early. She'd been caught up in her own life. Dirk would've had him dead and
buried if Sean hadn't said, said!, that he liked the boy. Sean didn't say stuff
like that. Sean didn't like anyone, outside their family. Hell, he barely even
liked his own as far as Alex could tell. So why?
Why,
why, why, why, WHY?!
Shit,
there he went again. He put his gun away deliberately. Whenever he started
thinking about Sean it ended up like this. He should've shot JJ when he'd had
the chance. Sean would've forgiven him. But now… JJ'd obviously taken a sudden
new interest in his old crush, now that he was over that Dee guy. He had that
peculiar happy, perky attitude that seemed to drive Sean so wild. Strangely
'cute'. Alex sighed. He wasn't cute. Would never be cute, it wasn't his style.
No one in his line of work was cute, not really. If they were it was an act. He
wanted Sean on his own terms. He wouldn't accept any act, any second place. And
neither would Sean, he was disgustingly stubborn when pushed. So how…
…Jamie…
He
was the weak link. Only Danny and Sean really cared about him. Dee was still
wary of him, Ryo too unsure of his relationship to accept any friendship. Dirk
hated him with an intensity that would shock anyone who hadn't seen Danny rage
against Hilde, if for a different reason. Josh…well, they had a hate/hate
relationship. Plenty of accomplices… Plenty of motives…And, for awhile at
least, plenty of possibilities.
After
all, JJ was supposed to be protecting Danny, wasn't he? Alex wouldn't let
anything happen to his sister but it'd be easy, ever so easy, just to sneak up
behind him and put a bullet through his brain. Shot by one of the people after
her, don't you know? Even if Josh figured it out he'd never tell, it'd upset
Danny too much to be worth it. He had to know Alex wouldn't hurt her…
He
smiled coldly. He'd make sure 'Jamie' paid, perhaps with a bit of help from his
ever so dear old father…Dirk cared about nothing but his daughter anymore, he'd
help out any way possible. Sean and Danny would be so upset it'd be easy to get
them to come back home. And then he'd have Sean and Danny would still have Josh
and Dirk would know she was safe and as long as mother stayed out of the way
everything would be perfect. Absolutely perfect.
And
who knows, maybe something would happen and he wouldn't have to worry about
mother getting in the way after all.